Tumbling doll.



J. GOWDEY.

TUMBLING DOLL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13.1916.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS JOHN GOWDEY, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TUMBLING DOLL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

Application filed June 13, 1916. Serial No. 103,465.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN GowDEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have made an Improvement in Tumbling Dolls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in tumbling-dolls which simulate a human being in appearance, and are constructed with a hollow elongated body containing a spherical weight or ball, whereby, when the doll larged detailed section of a portion of the body of the doll. Fig. 5 is a side view of the lower portion of the body of the doll showing the upper and lower sections separated.

As shown in Fig. 1, the toy is a comical grotesque representation of a man, the same being provided with arms and legs formed of flexible or cloth strips.

My invention consists essentially in the construction of the body of the doll of two separate open-end tubes made preferably of duly stifl pasteboard.

The numeral 1 indicates the upper tubular section and 2 is the short or lower tubular section, these being of the same form and diameter, but of different lengths as may be required, and closed at their outer ends by a cap 3, and pants 4., respectively, the same being formed of cloth or some equivalent flexible material having a certain degree of slackness. The representation of a face, Hair, collar and necktie, as indicated in Fig. 1, is produced by printing on a cloth piece or strip and the latter is then pasted on the said section 1, in which case the latter is greatly strengthened. An iron ball or sphere 5 (see Fig. 2) is contained in the inclosed body. The adjacent or meeting edges of the tubular sections 1 and 2 are shown separated in Fig. 5, for better illustration of the invention; but when the sections 1, 2,

' able, which of are placed together, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, they are secured in this position by glue and also by the heavy thread or light cord 6, as shown in Fig. 4, the same passing through a hole 7 in the upper section 1, and then being looped around the lower section and the ends of the thread tied or otherwise secured. The band 8 is glued and stitched to the tubes in such manner that the sections 1 and 2 are held firmly in abutment, this reinforcing band 8 being applied interiorly to cover the joint and hold the sections together smoothlv. as will be understood by reference to Fig. 2. It mayeX- tend the entire length of one of the sections, and beyond one end of the same, being a part thereof if so desired. In further explanation of this portion of the invention it may be stated that after the band has been attached to one of the tubular sections of the body, a very small perforation is made in the upper section a short distance from the lower end of the same. A needle with thread attached is then passed through such perforation from the inside of the tube. A large knot on the under thread prevents the thread from pulling out. The needle and thread then hang on the outside of the tube. Glue is then applied to the projecting portion of the band and the other section of the tube is slipped over the band, so that the two sections are practically connected in such manner so as to form a continuous tube at the joint. If a bent needle be employed, the thread can then be passed conveniently around the lower section and back through the perforation above referred to, and then secured on the outside of the tubular body. It will be understood that the main purpose of the band is to hold the two tubular sections, together thus increasing the rigidity and durability of the tube or body. This manner of constructing the body of the toy in separate sections, as described, is chiefly to save time in making-up or manufacturing the doll, and at the same time make it ,sufiiciently durable to make it marketable.

By making the body of two open-end sections, a cylindrical sewing-machine or patching machine may be employed for attaching the cloth cap and pants at top and bottom; whereas, when the body of such dolls is made in one piece, hand labor is indispenscourse adds to the cost of the doll, for when the cloth is sewed on one end of the single tube, there is no way of supporting the inside of the tube to permit the sewing of the cloth over the other end of the tube; but, by dividing the tube transversely, as by my invention, and thus forming the body of two tubes, either part or section may be slipped over the supporting arm of a cylindrical sewing-machine, or patching machine, and the cap or pants can thus be sewed on to one end of each section of tube with the machine, since its supporting arm takes the place of the table of a common fiat-work sewing-machine. By thus constructing the body of the doll of separate and detachable sections, the work may be done much more expeditiously so that the cost of manufacture is considerably reduced. It also permits the use of a tube formed of heavier material than usual so that the doll produced is a more merchantable article than those ordinarily produced by hand labor, in which case they are often too frail, and too costly to be marketable. I am aware that a tubular body with cloth ends has been used for this purpose for many years. What I claim is the new method of constructing the body, and the ball.

While the drawings show the preferred cated having a tubular body formed of two 7 separate tubular sections of like diameter, with internal band or fastening portion, and threads passing through the upper section and looped around the lower section, thus securing the meeting edges of the sections in close contact, as described.

2. A tumbling figure doll comprising a body made of tubular sections of like diameter with an internal band covering the meeting edges of said sections, and means for securing sections and band together, as described.

JOHN GOWDEY.

Witnesses at signing:

SAMUEL C. KANE, B. R. WALTON. 

